LAKE TAHOE
With the end of the school year comes time for teachers to reflect, renew and focus on their own learning. Summer offers stretches of uninterrupted time to read and learn with other professionals, in person and online. Time to read and discuss all those journal articles, professional books and lesson plans you put aside because you didn't have time during the busy school year. Summer is also a great time to take a graduate course or attend a workshop.
This summer I traveled to Tahoe, California, to attend the Technology Liaison Network's Resource Development Retreat with the director of the Plymouth Writing Project, Meg Petersen. As the newest Tech Liaison for the PWP, I was excited to meet and collaborate with techies from National Writing Project sites around the country and spend a week focused on the newest technologies being used in classrooms. Our task was to develop resources for our own writing project site that could be shared with other sites.I learned how to make a podcast, how to create a NING, and how to take a short video clip with my digital camera and upload it to a website. While all this technology is very cool, our focus remains on integrating the technology with the teaching of writing.
At the end of a very intensive week, I left the retreat with new friends, new ideas and new technology skills to share. Whatever your plans are this summer, I hope you, too, find time for yourself and your own learning.
Have a great summer!
